Mexico requests WTO consultations with Costa Rica

OVERVIEW GLOBAL MANDARIN MARKET
Following a Spanish season marked by the weather, the campaign in the southern hemisphere has had an earlier start. Both Peru and Chile expect to begin earlier than expected. South Africa expects a normal…..

EU funded program helping revitalise Jamaica’s banana industry
Stakeholder activities under a €5 million European Union (EU) grant-funded programme to revitalise Jamaica’s banana sector, which had been seriously impacted by the weather in recent years, are advancing.The Jamaica Banana Accompanying Measures…..

Honduras exported 6.2% less melon and watermelon
Melon and watermelon foreign currency income fell by 6.2 percent at the end of 2016, according to data from the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH).According to a report from the BCH, these agricultural products generated 53.3 million dollars, 3.5…..

Production moves to Rio Grande do Norte because of its water availability
Brazil: Increase in melon exports
According to the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), Rio Grande do Norte exported 60.66 million dollars in the first two months of this year, i.e. 45.25% more than in the first two months of 2016. Exports were driven by fruit…..

Potatoes may be able to grow on Mars, study suggests
A recent study has revealed that potatoes may soon be out of this world, as the study found that they could potentially grow on the Mars. Some predict that humans could be colonizing the red planet in as little as a decade. No matter when it…..

Special Australia and New Zealand

Andrew Darling – Darling Group
“We are taking Australasia’s finest fresh produce to the world”
Darling Group was formed to represent long-established Bay of Plenty-based fresh produce businesses, Just Avocados and Global Fresh New Zealand, and Australian based Global Fresh Australia and J.H. Leavy & Co.Darling Group Managing Director…..

Stockton enters distribution agreement in New Zealand for Timorex Gold
Stockton STK who specialize in the development and marketing of botanical based bio pesticides, announced today that it has signed a distribution agreement with Grosafe Chemicals in New Zealand for Timorex Gold. The product is currently…..

Global Focus Grapes

Added value for Sicilian organic table grapes
Si.Fa.Bio Srl, established in March 2015 by Salvatore Consoli and Giovanni Raniolo, is considered an organic spin-off of commercialisation activities. Grapes are its flagship product.Although the company is quite young, it takes advantage of…..

Final crop estimate from SATI
South Africa: “Healthy grape crop of about 65.4 million cartons”
The South African Table Grape Industry (SATI) released the Final Crop Estimate for the 2016/17 table grape season, stating that very favourable weather conditions, especially during harvesting, are contributing towards an expected healthy crop…..

Growing app Retail Spotters will soon also start with a wholesaler’s module
“We’ll make fresh produce trade transparent with Retail Spotters”
There will soon be fewer hidden surprises in the fresh produce sector. We can already find out how a fresh produce department looks in a supermarket in Bangkok or Madrid by pushing just a few buttons, and soon there will also be information…..

Russia further lifts boycott of Turkish produce
During a telephone conversation between Russian Prime Minister Medvedev and his Turkish colleague Binali Yildrim, a further lifting of the boycott of Turkish fruit and vegetables has been discussed. According to reports from the Kremlin’s…..

Omer Kamp, Arava Export Growers:
“Dependency is the nemesis of free trade”
“The bell pepper season started off slow, and everyone was a bit pessimistic,” says Omer Kamp from Arava Export Growers in Israel”. However, the circumstances in Spain have made consumers realize that one cannot and should not place all the…..

Good prospects for Turkish cherry season
“So far, so good,” according to Yafuz Taner of Alanar. Turkey is set for a great cherry season. The winter provided enough cool temperatures for the fruit to properly develop. Given that in the coming two months growers won’t be surprised by…..

Chinese ripeners lead international expansion
“At present, China’s fruit and vegetable industry is facing three major problems. Firstly, farmers do not take effective means to preserve the harvested fruits and vegetables, such as precooling, which results in greater loss of freshness…..

Chile’s competition from Peru slightly affects imported blueberry market
Despite feeling some heat from the Peru market, imported blueberries from Chile continues to see solid demand from consumers. “Demand has been very good for the last several weeks,” says Jim Gatterof Glassboro, NJ-based Sunny Valley…..

Florida orange crop estimate lowered by 3m boxes due to citrus greening
Florida’s orange crop continues to be decimated by greening disease and, on Thursday, federal forecasters dropped the orange production estimate for the 2017-18 season by 3 million boxes from last month’s estimate.The U.S. Department of…..

“Pattern of spending is simpler, but no significant decreases”
ASDA buyer Bas Tramper on the consequences of Brexit for retail
The decline of the British pound and the Brexit are causing uncertainty on the political and economic markets. Yet Dutch buyer Bas Tramper from International Procurement & Logistics Ltd (IPL) has only seen limited effects on the fresh…..

Spain: “Lemon prices are expected to increase in the coming weeks”
The stocks of the Primofiori variety are running out, so it is almost time to prepare for the next variety, the Verna. This is, at least, is what they say at Frutas Juanito, where they have already started harvesting – a little earlier than…..

Washington continues to grow new apple varieties
SugarBee apple goes commercial, NZ Rockit’s first domestic crop
Late last year, Chelan Fresh introduced the SugarBee, a new open cross-pollination apple variety (Honeycrisp and unknown parent). The new bi-colored apple is crisp, juicy and sweet. “We’re very excited about it,” said Tim Evans, General Sales…..

Full-sized watermelon season waits as the Personal melons wrap up
With spring around the corner, companies such as National Produce Marketing Inc. are looking forward to the Personal melon season wrapping up and the ramping up of full-sized melons again. “Demand for full-sized watermelons is probably one…..

Washington Pinata apple is in the midst of its season
Could apples take over popularity for Cinco de Mayo celebration?
With Cinco de Mayo coming up, there’s a commodity that’s going to be competing with the almighty avocado: the apple. The Piñata® apple is right in the midst of its season now. There will be lots of time for promoting this variety that’s…..

New ways of shipping Florida carambola being explored
As the Florida winter carambola season winds down, despite a slightly smaller supply, demand continues to grow for the sweet fruit, also known as Starfruit.“We had slightly less fruit than last year. We had a super, super warm winter so the…..

US: West Coast shortages create greater demand for local greens
Local greenhouse producers are responding to help retailers fill the supply gap created by the early finish for leafy greens in Yuma, AZ, due to weather issues. Greenhouse producer BrightFarms reports increased orders from several retailers…..

Switching varieties could remedy tomato allergy
There is only a very small proportion of the population who may be allergic, and the Heritage Food Crops Research Trust may have the solution – change your tomato!The trust has been researching the potential health benefits of some heritage…..

Canada: NatureFresh internship program kicks off year 2
After a successful program launch in 2016, NatureFresh Farms is once again promoting summer internship opportunities for its mobile Greenhouse Education Center (GEC). NatureFresh’s recruitment efforts are being focused on colleges &…..

New organic mango website launched
Crespo Organic Mangoes is thrilled to share a new -mango centric- consumer-driven website. The new website not only honors the Mexican heritage of the Crespo family and the relentless work carried out by mango farmers, it aims to cultivate…..

First Jersey Royals hit the UK market
The much prized Jersey Royals hit the market for the first time this week, just slightly later than the first crop last year. The potatoes are all from greenhouses or poly tunnels and there are still very limited volumes.”We sent the first…..

Greek stonefruit company sees potential in Africa
With so many companies vying for new markets, some of the benefits of venturing into these markets can be lost, as everyone follows the herd searching for the next new thing. According to John Georgiou and Kostas Bampalis from N. Apollo., once…..

UK: Normal timing for first asparaus
The first asparagus from the Wye Valley have been cut this week. This is later than last year according to Chris Chinn from Cobrey Farms. “Last year was exceptionally early, this is more the norm for the first cut.”Although volumes are small at…..

Maurice Koppen, Oakfield Champignons:
“Smoother sales of mushrooms despite decreased export to UK”
The white mushrooms are enjoying good demand this season. “Especially compared to previous years, demand has been very good from the summer until now,” says Maurice Koppen from Oakfield Champignons of Stramproy, the Netherlands. Oakfield…..

“A vitamin boost every morning”
New consumer trends mark the market trend; this is the conclusion reached by the Portuguese company GL, and which has been the basis to launch a renewed product, namely fruit and vegetable juices under a new concept. “Consumers are striving for…..

Italy: Parlapiano biodynamic kiwis turned into juice
Azienda Agricola Biodinamica Parlapiano Donato is a family business that has evolved with the times.Donato Parlapiano at Fruit Logistica in BerlinoThe business initially specialised in the cultivation of cereal and vegetables and provided…..

Italy: Apple and pear organic production increasing in Piedmont
“Organic production in Piedmont increased considerably in 2016, especially for what concerns apples – 680 hectares, 12.4% of the total cultivated area – and pears – 389 hectares, 29.5% of the total. Agrion is the regional authority for organic…..

Organic prices lower than traditional prices in Sicily
Aziende Majorana are now managed by the fifth generation of a family with a long agricultural tradition.Jacopo Majorana has managed the company for the past few years. A young entrepreneur who, after graduating from Bocconi, relaunched the…..

Italy: Industry tomato price established at €79.75
The price of industry tomatoes in northern Italy has been established at €79.75 a ton despite the fact that the fate of the Ferrara Food and Copador processing companies is yet to be decided. Last year, the price was €82.95/ton, i.e 8% less…..

Tomra Sorting Food appoints new Technical Director
TOMRA Sorting Food, a leading food sorting solutions manufacturer has appointed a new technical director to oversee the global development of the company’s innovative technologies.Maciek Wasowski – who has almost 20 years’ experience in…..

China: Garlic market prospects worrisome
“Pizhou city of Jiangsu province is one of the main garlic producing areas in China, the listing of the garlic starts at the end of May or early June every year. Garlic prices rose again and again in 2016 due to shortages and speculation……

Successful implementation of ‘Fruit Network’ in Rongcheng
A few days ago, Rongcheng city in Shandong province succeeded in making the first ‘fruit network + cultivation greenhouses’ model operational. In order to improve the management of the modern agricultural industry, the city of Rongcheng…..

China: New Yunnan garlic hits the market
Recently, the new garlic from Yunnan has started to enter the market in large quantities. This single-bulb, purple garlic doesn’t have the authority on the market that it used to have, instead the price is in constant decline. At the start of…..

Apple prices have increased by 60% in Armenia since 2016
Over the last 12 months, the prices of fruits and vegetables in Armenia went up by 20 percent, as per the statement of the National Statistical Service of Armenia on consumer prices for February 2017, according to news.am.As compared to…..

Nashik 50,000 tonnes in grape exports
About 50,000 tonnes of grapes have been exported from the district during the current season, up to March 8.The grape export has increased by 12% to 50,100 tonne, as against 44,800 tonne exported during the corresponding period in 2015-16.The…..

New Zealand Kiwi Growers soon to increase independent monitoring
Independent monitoring and analysis of the kiwifruit industry’s performance by New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc will significantly increase in the coming months, as the Kiwifruit Industry Strategy Project recommendations are implemented.NZKGI…..

Untapped potential for New Zealand exports of healthy foods
Leading national food and beverage innovators say non-dairy powdered food products are in high demand world-wide and New Zealand should act quickly to take advantage of an untapped export growth opportunity.The New Zealand Food Innovation…..

International demand may lead to citrus shortages in Australia
According to Citrus Australia, the recent increases in international demand of Australian mandarins, consumers could see a shortage of the fruit in the coming years if local production isn’t expanded. “At our current planting rate, we are going…..

Senegalese growers in Eastern European markets
Senegalese growers and exporters are increasingly working with European markets. Both by increasing their presence at events like Fruit Logistica and by taking advantage of their unique seasonal position in the world market. ASEPEX, a…..

Smart packer to aid fruit exports
Speed, capacity and accuracy are keywords for South Africa’s rapidly expanding fruit export industry and the designers of packaging equipment are locked in a race against time to provide better and faster equipment.The apple industry alone…..

Productivity compared to work hours by country
Since Sweden announced its plans to begin experimenting with a six hour work day a few years ago there has been widespread debate on whether more hours mean increased productivity. This chart helps with that question and shows each countries…..

Added value for Sicilian organic table grapes
Si.Fa.Bio Srl, established in March 2015 by Salvatore Consoli and Giovanni Raniolo, is considered an organic spin-off of commercialisation activities. Grapes are its flagship product.Although the company is quite young, it takes advantage of…..

Andrew Darling – Darling Group
“We are taking Australasia’s finest fresh produce to the world”
Darling Group was formed to represent long-established Bay of Plenty-based fresh produce businesses, Just Avocados and Global Fresh New Zealand, and Australian based Global Fresh Australia and J.H. Leavy & Co.Darling Group Managing Director…..

Stockton enters distribution agreement in New Zealand for Timorex Gold
Stockton STK who specialize in the development and marketing of botanical based bio pesticides, announced today that it has signed a distribution agreement with Grosafe Chemicals in New Zealand for Timorex Gold. The product is currently…..